The Strong Ones
by Odi et amo
Summary: When an elite shinigami from the Kings Guard appears to Captain in the Gotei 13, things get tense. Especially when she turns out to be the eleventh kenpachi in the kenpachi line, leaving Captain Zaraki's claim of strongest a lie unless he can defeat her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is my first Bleach fanfic, and while I did try to remain as accurate to the story as possible, I must insist that while the arrancar exist, they have not yet kidnapped Orihime, and no one has thought to save her. I'm in blatant denial until I can manipulate the manga into my story as much as possible, while focusing on side characters such as Captain Kenpachi and General Yamamato. If you notice a mistake in ranking regarding the gotei 13, or spelling, feel free to inform me.

The mini summary left out that Zaraki may or may not be paired with Takara, depending on how large his desire for strength may be, and the rating may or may not change, depending on how violent or drunk either of them become. Takara is an OC completely of my own making.

Read and review. ^_^

**The Strong Ones**

_In the beginning…_

After the defection of Captains Ichimaru Gin, Aizen Souseke, and Kaname Tousen, desperate measures were required. It was true that the other captains did their best to help, as did he, but the fact remained that soul societies defenses were all but shattered. The lower rank shinigami did not believe they would win the war, and the people of soul society had lost their faith in the Gotei 13. Training increased in preparation for the war, and a search was made to find who could replace the 3 captains. Unfortunately the only good candidates did not want the position, weren't strong enough, or in the case of Hinamori Momo…too inept mentally and emotionally.

Former Captains of the Gotei 13, such as Urahara, or Yoruichi, were considered "retired" or "defected," and were unable to take the posts required. Their only value was that they could influence lower ranks to a small extent, as well as fight in the war when the time came.

It was with great trepidation that he called her.

From his memories, Yamamato could recall how unstable she had been, and how frightening as well. He had first met her when he was a captain, and after she had become one. She had been young…but _much _stronger than him. One fight and she had trounced him, nearly ripping him in two, and leaving him forever nervous of being near her. And she hadn't stayed in soul society long. Once she became captain the elite took notice of her, and shortly after making her division the strongest of them all…she had been called away to Division Zero.

The youngest person to ever graduate the academy at lieutenant rank…the quickest to rise to captain, the youngest and quickest to rank into the kings guard, and the only undefeated shinigami in all of soul society. Her record was as impressive as it was terrifying. But her strength was needed. If there was one thing he knew it was that she was probably still serving. Like him, she would never stop. Unlike him, she only did it for the pleasure of battle.

If he was correct in his thinking, she would still be fairly young. She had taken a captaincy at Yachiru's age, and left by Toushiro's. It had only been a little less than two hundred years ago. She was probably a young woman now. The only communication he had came about fifty years ago. A note with a number on it, asking him to call her for old times sake. He had ignored it until now.

With the thought in his mind of soul society changing for the worse, he dialed the number and waited for her to pick up.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

Click.

"Yo. Takara speaking."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So um...wow...one chapter in and already a mistake. Just take a look at the reviews and you'll see, but I have a perfectly rational explanation for it. You see, I read the manga scanlations cause I'm dirt poor and can't afford to buy the manga's (Ye gods I want to) so when I read it it explained that Hitsugaya Toushiro was the youngest captain to graduate into captaincy, and the youngest captain thus far. I over thought that and took it to mean "currently the youngest captain, but not the youngest captain in all of seireitei history." Thus Takara was born. So in this fanfic, she's the youngest to ever graduate into lieutenancy, and the youngest to defeat their captain and take his rank. Hence her leaving for Division Zero when she was Toushio's age, only to later become a member of the King's Guard. Those two are strangely seperate in my mind, even if I'm not too sure where they stand in the manga.

For the sake of the story I cannot afford to changer her past, even if it's not true to Tite Kubo's original version. then again, what fanfiction is?

Thanks again rafiki20 for the help there, and also a big thanks to yuri-swan for the support. Please, do not be afraid to point out incongruities in the story line. I try, but can still mess-up.

**_The Strong Ones_**

When he was still a boy, he had heard the story of how the shinigami were strong. Being a tall, gangly youth, whose only talent was in his strength, he was naturally drawn to such stories. One in particular caught his attention, and gripped it so tightly that as boy became teenager, it still held his complete fascination.

Kenpachi.

The strongest shinigami was called Kenpachi.

The name seemed to hold respect, and as teenager turned to man, the fact that he still had yet to be given a name turned over in his head, and secretly he called himself that. It wasn't until he met another nameless soul that he decided to acknowledge himself as Kenpachi. She, who was nameless, he called Yachiru, in honor of the person he had admired most in life.

Endless battles later, as he was losing his ability to find opponents capable of properly fighting back, he came across someone who finally gave a good fight. Having met that person, he decided to join the shinigami ranks, and defeat the current Kenpachi for his title. To his satisfaction, he managed to do so, and the former Kenpachi of Zaraki became **the**Kenpachi of Sereitei. Yachiru, who had surprisingly turned out as battle thirsty as he, became his second in command.

It was this same Kenpachi that was sitting at his desk one day, actually _doing_ the blasted paperwork, when the announcement for a captains meeting was made. Giving a sigh that marked more relief than annoyance, he called for his third seat to finish the work, earning an annoyed groan in response. Chuckling darkly, he made his way out of the eleventh division and towards the captains meeting.

Upon arriving, the first thing he noticed was the small, shadowy figure leaning in the left hand corner of the room. Seeing as General Yamamato was sitting at his desk, and the Captains who were still loyal to Sereitei were all present, he could only imagine that he was hallucinating. Oddly enough, hallucinations did not usually involve nearly everyone in the room save for Captains Fon and Kuchiki, as well as Yamamato, staring at the same shadowy figure. Upon taking his assigned place, curiosity seemed to have gotten the better of half the room.

"General Yamamato," Captain Komamura Sajin began, "may I ask who is taking part in our meeting today?"

The shadowy figure chuckled, and said, "Take a wild guess big guy." The voice was distinctly feminine, and rather blunt. Yamamato shook his head at her, and then stood, gesturing to the person. Sajin was a little stunned at her boldness, but managed to recover quickly from the shock of being called "big guy"

"In light of the situation regarding the Arrancar, as well as certain traitors who defected to them, it has come to my notice that our force needs all the strength and leadership it can get." He said in his gruff voice. "We have the help of the ryoka who came here, the vanguard, former captains, as well as our own numbers, but with three captains gone, discipline is falling among the captain less ranks. A former Captain of the Gotei 13 has…offered her assistance in this matter, and-"

"Offered, old man?" The shadow broke in. "I was called into duty, even though I am no longer under your jurisdiction. Which begs the question, where are other former captains? Surely I am not the last one left from my time here?"

That said the person moved forth into the light, and began walking towards Yamamato until she was standing next to him. In the corner, she had appeared small due to slouching, but it was obvious that she was not. Black boots laced up to her knee's, with blue jeans tucked into them. A beige wife beater with the phrase "I do it doggy style," complete with a drawing of a white dog holding a martini glass and toasting the reader, decorated her upper body, and her hair was pulled back and placed in a long, black braid that fell to her butt. Crimson eyes placed on a pale, pretty face glared out mockingly at the other captains. She was the same height as Captain Kurotsuchi, but with a toned body that didn't lack feminine curves at all.

Other than her human garb and relaxed stance, the most noticeable thing about her was her lack of a zanpakutou.

"And you are…?" Captain Hitsugaya asked her, face and voice expressionless. She smiled at him.

"I am Kenpachi number eleven _little boy_, and former Captain of the same division Kenpachi number fourteen leads now."

This announcement was received with more than a fair bit of shock, as well as quite a few protests, most of which centered around her age. If what she said was true, then why wasn't she old like Yamamato, or dead for that matter? Toushiro's only response was to say he was not a little boy. The talk silenced only when Yamamato spoke a command for it.

"What she says is true." He said. "As for her age, Takara is not nearly as old as I. She graduated into lieutenant rank around Lieutenant Kusajiki's age, and then took and held eleventh division long enough to make it the strongest, and take the title of strongest division from eighth. She then abandoned it in the hands of the twelfth Kenpachi. He died less than a year later, at the hands of Kenpachi number thirteen, who was later defeated by Zaraki Kenpachi. Do not underestimate her on basis of sex though. She is the fastest Kenpachi to kill another for captaincy, and the only one to remain undefeated."

Kuchiki Byakuya glanced at Kenpachi. "That means the title of Kenpachi is hollow until she's defeated, does it not?" He asked Yamamato, still looking at the eleventh division Kenpachi, who had gone tense and was staring with barely controlled battle lust at Takara, who was returning the gaze with a defiant smirk.

"In a way, perhaps. I do not want fighting outside of controlled training. Captain Zaraki, I expect you to keep your sword to yourself." He paused, then looked at Takara. "The same to you Captain Takara Rumi. Captain Kenpachi is _not _a toy."

She looked at Yamamato with wide, mockingly innocent eyes. "Why…I would never dream of using him as one." She said sweetly. "I'm much too old for toys now. I much prefer playing with…well…this isn't the place to discuss that."

Yamamato gave a small huff of discontent, and then a small nod of his head. "She will be in command of Divisions 3 and 5." He said, to both her and the other captains. "I expect your Zanpakutou will be heading one of them for you?"

She nodded. "Division five."

"Excellent." He then focused all his attention on the other captains, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, but were more than a little bewildered by the discussion.

"General, what do you mean by her having command of two divisions?" Kuchiki asked, even as Ukitake said "A Zanpakutou heading a division?"

Takara threw her head back and laughed. "In the human world, they have a saying. With great power, comes great responsibility. As captains, you should all know by know that it's actually great responsibility lumped on you because of great power. I'm strong enough to keep my Zanpakutou as real as you or I, at all times, regardless of distance. He's pulling some of my old belongings from Division eleven right now."

To say Madarame Ikkaku was stunned was an understatement. He had been sitting, calmly ignoring the paperwork until the captain came back, when some_thing_ had come into the office. The something ignored him and walked over to the left wall, then placed a large, clawed hand on one of the boards and pushed in, causing a series of clicking sounds to go off. A keypad shot out from under the pushed in board, and the thing typed in a series of numbers, and pressed enter. The wall slid open, revealing a large assortment of weaponry. Each one was labeled from 1 to 10, and obviously individual zanpakutou's. A filing cabinet was on the right, with a safe below it.

Somehow the sight of all of them made Ikkaku regain his ability to speak.

"Who and what the hell are you?" He said, standing and grabbing the hilt of his zanpakutou. The thing turned around and looked at him.

"I am Anubis." It said, it's voice echoing not just in the room, but in Ikkaku's mind too. He shook his head to dispel the echo, and unsheathed his sword.

"That ain't good enough." He said. "Answer the question!"

The thing laughed. "I am not a shinigami, or someone to fight with." He said, and then turned to kneel in front of the safe.

Due to the fact that he was being ignored, Ikkaku took the allotted time to study what had entered the room. Long, black, canine legs knelt on the floor, then disappeared under a…white…he had no idea what it was but it looked like a white skirt with gold trim. The upper torso was solid black as well, but human in shape and proportion, excluding the claws. The head though…the head was definitely the head of some sort of animal. One with a long snout, and pointy ears. It looked like a jackal. But it wasn't only the appearance that made Ikkaku nervous about the thing in the office. It was the height as well. This creature, this _Anubis_, was taller than his captain by at least a head. There weren't many things taller than his captain, excluding that dog-guy Sajin.

Without a word Anubis opened the safe, pulled out a small box and several books, then closed it as well as the wall. Then he left without glancing back, leaving Ikkaku holding his zanpukutou and feeling like a frightened idiot.

'_What the hell was that thing…?'_

Anubis walked calmly into the Captain's meeting, set the box down on the desk, then reformed back into his blade-like self and firmly attached himself to Takara's sides. A feat rather remarkable, considering she did not have her usual belt on. He was pleased the note the stunned expressions on the faces of the Gotei 13 captains, as well as the envy readily emitting from each of their zanpukutou's. It wasn't everyday you saw a sword capable of handling itself.

Takara patted his dual handle, then commenced playing with his chain. If it had been a few hundred years ago he would have purred with satisfaction.

Takara grinned.

"As you can tell my sword is a bit…different. His form is that of the Egyptian god Anubis, judge of souls. His power is much the same." She said, and Kurotsutchi spoke up.

"A death god...whose sword is the incarnation of death itself." He said, stroking his chin. "Come by my division later, we'll-"

"I don't take orders from lower ranking officers Captain." Takara stated, eyes flashing, before he could finish his sentence. "Least of all from someone dressed up like a clown."

Kenpachi snickered. This chick's ability to judge appearances apparently came from whatever system Yachiru used.

"And who are you to laugh spiky?" She said to him. "Even though you are a Kenpachi, you are still a member of the Gotei 13, and must show respect to fellow officers of the same rank."

"Like you?" He responded, tilting his chin up and looking down at her. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"There's not a single person in this room above me bell boy. I don't need to show respect. You are all dismissed."

Captain Kuchiki uttered a protest, but was silenced by Yamamato.

"Dismissed." He said, and they cleared the room, albeit slowly, many of them looking back at the new Captain. The last to leave was Kenpachi, who maintained eye contact with Takara until out the door. When they were gone she let a sigh escape.

"Your officers do not seem to know their place Yama-kun." She said, looking at the old man. He sat down and opened a drawer.

"They know their place _General." _He said, fishing out a key and handing it to her. "But they are not sure of yours."

"Then they will learn." She said, taking it. "I'll be in Central 46 for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow I expect a role call for all the divisions at seven a.m. sharp. I will be inspecting their abilities, and then their divisions."

She began walking to the door, then stopped and looked back.

"The guy with the wolf's body, who-"

"Komamura Sajin."

"What _is_ he Yama-kun?"

"Nobody quite knows."

"And the current Kenpachi, his name is…"

"Zaraki Kenpachi."

"…Zaraki is a district in northern Rukongai."

"He was nameless before deciding to be a shinigami. After that he took the name most suited to his abilities and his past."

Takara laughed.

"A title as a name, eh? Isn't that a bit redundant?"

"He is deserving of both the title and the name."

"…I see."

"Do not toy with him Takara-sama. Soul Society needs him alive."

"Don't worry Yama-kun. I can wait to have him." She began walking out the door, but when she disappeared around the corner she called out. "It's just of matter of how long he can wait until he has me."

Laughter followed that statement, and slowly died down. When it was gone Yamamato buried his face in one hand.

"What have I done…?" He asked himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I own me, I own my car, I own the stuff I bought, and I own my OC's. I do not however, own Bleach.

P.S. Would you guys be interested in seeing a picture of Takara? I'm drawing one up already. Yes, I draw too. Better than I write, but then again, writing has been done only in the past seven years. Drawing has been for the past eighteen or so. I still have my doodles from when I was five.

Thanks for the lovely reviews! You guys rock!

**ooooooooooooooo**

**The Strong Ones**

Captain Kenpachi practically skipped into his office after the meeting, minus the skipping, and with a grin on his face that was more like death than joy. Ikkaku sat behind the desk, staring at the wall with a dazed expression on his face. When saying 'yo' to him failed to capture his attention, Kenpachi shouted. Ikkaku blinked in shock and stood quickly.

"C-Captain, you'll never believe what just happened in here! A giant-"

"The incarnation of the death god Anubis showed up, took something, and left, right?" Kenpachi butted in. Ikkaku nodded dumbly. "What he get?"

"A box! From the wall!"

"..."

"I mean from inside it! This giant dog-man thing pushed a board over there-" He waved vaguely at the wall, "-typed something into some weird code thingy, and the wall opened!"

Kenpachi grunted and walked over to the wall. "Where'd he push at?"

Ikkaku walked over and pushed the exact spot Anubis had. It did not budge. He pushed harder.

"It seems to be stuck somehow." He said after quite a few minutes of trying to push the board in and failing, much to Kenpachi's amusement.

"It obviously dislikes cue balls." He said, using Yachiru's endearing nickname to get a rise from him. Ikkaku's face flashed with anger, then calmed when he remembered that he was the in the only room where fighting wasn't allowed, largely because Yachiru's crappy drawings were all over the walls. "I bet it opens for me." Kenpachi said, and then pushed the board. A series of clicks were heard, right before a little keypad came out a little under the pushed-in board. Kenpachi stared at it for a few moments, and then looked at his third seat. "What's the code?"

Ikkaku shrugged. "Forgot." He said in explanation.

"Then try to remember."

"I was too bothered by the freaky dog-man to remember."

Kenpachi was starting to get mad. First he gets called to a meeting, only to find out that his title was pretty much worthless until that red-eyed female kenpachi died by his hands (not a bad thing, after all, a good fight is a good fight), then he finds out he's in her old office, and there's a secret compartment some pompous sword knows more about than he, and now his third seat is suffering from memory loss. He glowered angrily down at Ikkaku with his one visible eye.

"_Remember." _He said slowly. Ikkaku just shrugged again.

"I can't. I do know there's a shit-load of Zanpakutou's under there though. All with neat little labels and numbers."

"What kind of numbers?"

"One, two, three, four, five, si-"

"I get the idea."

Kenpachi stared at the wall with new respect. Granted he hadn't felt much for it earlier today, or ever for that matter, but at the same time it was a moving wall. With what sounded like all the zanpakutou's from each former kenpachi. Which meant that little Miss blood eyes was not only a kenpachi, but a collector of kenpachi's.

He felt a familiar desire for a good fight run through him and looked at Ikkaku, who was studying the keypad as if determined to learn its secrets.

"Let's fight." He said, a sadistic grin crossing his face.

ooooooooooooooooo

The moment Takara and Anubis were inside central 46 Anubis took form. As he stretched, Takara popped open the box and pulled out some old clothes left from her last stint in soul society. The shirt and pants fell to the floor with a soft thud, and she pulled on the typical uniform. Underneath she whore a loose battle mock-corset, and left her shirt open enough so that she could just rip it off in hot weather if need be. The corset glimmered blue in the sparse light, and looked delicate, even though it was made from dragon hide, and could withstand most weapons and attack forms. The dragon had come from a parallel dimension, one of many. A short captain's jacket was thrown on over her sleeveless uniform. It was hip length and equally as sleeveless, as well as emblazoned with her bold title as Kenpachi, as well as her number in the kenpachi line. Her pants were swiftly cut short enough to fit in her boots, but not bulk them up unnaturally.

By the time she finished dressing Anubis had located the light switches, and figured out that they were damaged. He walked over as she was tying a crimson sash around her hips and over her captain's coat. A crooked grin crossed his canine features.

"Got a light?" He asked, holding out a clawed hand. Takara ignored him for a few moments, in favor of fiddling with her fallen human world clothes and tossing them in the box. A lighter was pulled from her jean pockets and she placed it in his hand with a smile.

"The old way, eh? I do believe fire-light was before our time." She said mockingly, gazing up at him and grinning. He grinned back.

"Maybe before yours." He mocked at her, referring to the fact that she actually aged, rather than simply existing. She huffed and crossed her arms.

"You poofed into existence after me big boy." She said. "You have no right to talk."

"Ah, but remember the rumors dearest." He said to her while walking away. He flicked the lighter and pulled the top off an old cauldron filled with oil. The lighter dropped, and within seconds fire spread through pipes running from the oil and up the walls. Above them loud bursts of flame were heard and seen as ancient "firelights" were activated. The clear bowls had been enhanced to hold temperatures up to 1,200 degree's Fahrenheit, and threw off about as much light as the sun in the space.

"They said she was born with a sword already in her hand." Anubis said, walking forward with a smile. Takara snorted. "They claimed her eyes were the color of blood because she had so greatly enjoyed killing her birth mother during the birth, she had absorbed the blood in her eyes to match her spirit. As she grew older, she became the only child in her village who craved food, and the only known child to crave battle as well."

"Blah, blah, blah-" Takara butted in, rolling her eyes. "When I first became capable of holding you in my world almost constantly they all claimed it was because instead of human men, I wanted monsters too."

"I remember."

"Yes, and it was all false. I'll never know what you saw in the rumors."

"You forget I like falsehoods."

"Those falsehoods were more like fairytales than conventional lies."

"Indeed, and yet fairytales remain one of the most popular forms of entertainment in existence. To think we are like a fairytale to them-"

"I bet I know which ones too. Beauty and the beast minced with Dracula, and fried in a hot skillet of Egyptian mythology. Only instead of beast turning human, beauty keeps him as a beast, and together they run around pretending to be gods and killing everything in sight. Forget the past my shiny fighting toy, and live for today."

"…I'm glad that when I maintain this form, I can't read your mind very easily."

Takara just laughed, "Oh my dear Anubis, as we spend less time in each others head, so do we grow different as well."

"Indeed. You're still a savage"

"Yes, but even this savage knows the end to this fairy-tale."

"Which is…?"

"And Beauty said unto the Beast, go forth and get all the files on the traitor captains, as well as the ones still here, then fetch me something with sugar and caffeine, and maybe I'll let you live another day."

Anubis began laughing. "And the Beast said to Beauty: Yes master, anything you wish master, please don't hurt me master." He walked away and Takara smiled after him.

"He's less sword and more wandering soul." She said to herself, then briskly walked to the chamber where the murders occurred.

oooooooooooooo

Hitsugaya Toushiro was obsessed. His obsession had nothing to do with paperwork, icicles, secret candy stashed in his office, or even seeing how long it would take to make Rangiku feel bad for "letting him down" on paperwork again, nor how long that guilt would last.

No, this obsession was different. It was an obsession about power.

After leaving the captain's meeting he had immediately run off to his division's offices, which kept files on all the former shinigami who had served in his division, as well as information on the former captains. He had never really seen much use in the old files, seeing as they were usually about dead people, and what was soul society if not a lot of dead people? He saw dead people every day. Why read about them too?

Meeting Takara had changed his mind about dead people drastically, especially former captains. If he had done his math correctly, she must have left somewhere around two hundred years ago for division zero. It would be the only way she could not have recognized them, nor them her. Judging by her physical appearance, she was possibly eighteen or so in human years, which meant her rise from captain to general must have occurred when she was around his age.

He wanted to know how to become like her. Hitsugaya wanted to advance even further in rank.

Right now…learning everything he could about Captain Takara and trying it himself seemed the best way.

Komamura Sajin was in a pickle. Or maybe a pickle jar, since he had never been the best at trite human phrases. Or even at being human. Being a large fox kind of did that to a person.

But this pickle was unusual. It had red eyes, black hair, and a monstrously large dual sword combo that could easily morph into a monstrously large canine humanoid, much like himself.

Which begged the question…was he truly alone in the world or did Takara-sama represent some knowledge that had been hidden from him? Maybe she held the answer to what he was, where he really came from, and if there were others. He would love to meet others, preferably female and single.

Her shirt flashed through his mind and he gave a chuckle. That had actually been rather entertaining. He wondered if he could get Matsumoto-san to find one like it the next time she went shopping in the human world. Providing they carried his size… Now that he thought about it, what _was _his size in human clothing? He had never felt the desire to wear any until now.

Sajin now had a mission. It was a simple mission. He had to find Matsumoto-san and ask her to find the doggy style shirt, and he also had to go forth and discover everything he could about what Takara-sama knew about anthro's.

All this would be done, not human style, but doggy style.

His tail wagged as he walked.

Throughout soul society, many more of these strange thoughts passed through the minds of captain's and lieutenants alike. Captain Kuchiki had to come to grips with the reality of calling someone other than his father, rest his soul, sama. Captain Mayuri was currently trying to figure out how to make his zanpakutou take physical form without bankai. Captain Ukitake…didn't really care, but thought it might be nice to invite her to tea, provided he could get rid of his cold before it turned it pneumonia…again. Captain Soi Fon was predicting disaster if the two kenpachi's were left alone together in an open field, and Captain Shunsui had opened up a bottle of champagne in honor of the new captain…who was almost as beautiful as Nanao-chan. Captain Unohana began making plans to open up a new ward for the victims--er…patients from under Captain Takara's care, much like she had for Division eleven. After all, the former eleventh division Captain had made eleventh division what it was, and all the kenpachi's afterward had kept it that way.


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N:_** I don't own Bleach. I just read it and wish really hard that the shinigami from "Death Note" randomly show up and prove that they're ten times cooler with their little pens and notebooks, than the Gotei 13 is with their crappy fake tin swords.

Thanks for the awesome reviews guys. Only one thing...I hate having to defend a character only three chapters in. Yes, I know she's a perfect Mary-Sue. She's strong, sexy, titled, arrogant, incapable of controlling herself, likes to see bleeding, overly dramatic, has s&m dom and sub fantasies while mast...er....wait...um...block those last few out. Those don't sound kosher.

Kenpachi: *frowning* "Say what about the sub and dom fantasies?"

Takara: *waves hands about dramatically in what's supposed to be a mysterious manner and speaks in spooky voice* "You didn't read anything...."

Kenpachi: "Bulls**t I didn't. What kind of fantasies we talking about here? I myself love subs. Especially when covered in cheese and toasted, and served with freshly baked cookies and an ice cold coke."

Takara: *stares*

Kenpachi: "What's a dom? Some kind of salad?"

Takara: *still staring*

Kenpachi: "Blast it woman, tell me what a dom is!"

Yumichika: "Wow...Captain Kenpachi's dense."

Author: "Sorry, I've been awake too many hours (about fifty now), had too much coffee (I'm on my fourth pot!)and have started wondering what a fossilized lemur would look like (I want it to still have hair and eyeballs, but be all nasty and mummified looking at the same time). Plus, I really need to change the batteries in my keyboard. I keep finding typo's."

_ooooooooooooooo_

_**The Strong Ones**_

It was an eerily calm morning in Sereitei. The morning sun was halfway over the horizon, spilling a red and purple glow over the landscape, while a gentle breeze blew warmly down the streets and into one of the main training arena's. It was six-thirty, and already three divisions were waiting to be "assessed" by whoever the new captain was. Rumors about her had already spread, thanks to Unohana's selfish desire to work and _not_ gossip, and divisions three and five's lack of knowledge all together. All they really knew about their new captain was that she was from either division zero or the kings guard, was a former Gotei 13 captain, and somehow outranked Yamamato-sama, even if he currently had the power to boss her around.

Gradually, over the next half hour, more of the divisions showed up, either fully or in little groups of people. By five minutes 'till seven, each and every division were lined up, and each were gradually getting more worried. At four 'till, she had still not shown up. At three 'till, restlessness began. At two 'till, General Yamamato appeared, looking a little more tense and weary than usual. At one 'till, nearly every shinigami present had decided that they had been the victim of a cruel joke that involved waking up early.

30 seconds 'till.

15.

10.

5.

4.

3.

2.

BOOM.

The force of Anubis landing sent shockwaves throughout the assembled shinigami, as well as more than a touch of fear. The ground literally shook beneath his paws, and unlike Captain Komamura, he did not look fluffy or friendly. Orange eyes glared out a jackal's face at the crowd, and a hard, visibly toned pitch black body stood at a fighting crouch. Even so, he was huge. The same thought passed through the minds of everyone under captain rank.

Was this the elite division zero/kings guard captain?

The answer became obvious quickly when a young woman hopped off his back and began walking toward them, captain's cloak billowing a little in the breeze, but not coming loose from her red sash. She smiled at them gently, and affected a gentle demeanor.

"Hello all!" she said cheerfully. Several of the gathered sweat dropped. "I'm Captain Takara Rumi, and this is my sword Anubis."

A few of the lower ranks fainted when she gestured to the sword standing menacingly behind her. This did not escape Takara's notice, and she reminded herself to calm down before continuing with another smile, this one full of cheer.

"Anubis will be handling fifth division."

Silence followed….then…

"You've got to be kidding! That's a sword, not a person!"

Takara looked over at the outspoken shinigami, noting quickly he was from her division, as well as an insignificant rank.

"Demoted." She said cheerfully. He blanched.

"But-but-"

"You will be helping whoever cleans the sewers in cleaning the sewers. I want them spotless and smelling like roses within the week."

"That's impossible!"

"Improbable, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible."

Another silence fell over the troops, and was quickly followed by laughter. The laughter took over steadily, and built until it filled the arena. Only the captains resisted it's pull, although Kuchiki had a suspicious gleam in his eye, much like secret amusement, and Kenpachi was grinning full out. Takara allowed the laughter to continue for a while longer, knowing full well they did not take her seriously.

Then she notched up her spiritual pressure. A few people shut up, while some of the stronger ones gradually lost their chuckles. It was still too many people laughing though, so she knocked it up even further. Half of each division fell to their knees, while others dropped to the ground entirely. The laughter stopped. Takara smiled and pulled back her coat to expose the Celtic cross shaped seal on her shoulder.

"This is the seal of the king's guard." She said, and began walking slowly across the field. Anubis smirked behind her. "It is only employed when one of the higher ranks enters soul society. Much like the seal for you during excursions to the human world, it inhibits power. At top capacity here, I am functioning at only 50 percent. At top capacity in the human world, I work on only ten."

She stopped right before the assembled crowd and again gestured to Anubis.

"Please notice how he has not once wavered or disappeared since the assembly here. Also, look around you. I have felled almost a quarter of shinigami here, by merely raising my reiatsu 20 percent." She then pointed to Captain Zaraki Kenpachi. "See his eye patch?" Her hand went to the choker around her throat. "This necklace is no different. Make no mistake in my feminine appearance. I am the creator of the fighting division, as well as the kenpachi number eleven." She turned and pointed at the bold lettering on her back. "Until your current Kenpachi rips this title from me, and earns it, I am the new monster you must fear."

Fear they did. It was positively rank in the air. Takara grinned, baring a menacing smile as terrible as any demons. "I expect every division to train for war. You will eat, breathe, sleep, drink, and consume thoughts of battle. Traitors once resided here. Trust no one. Obey the King."

That said she stood up a little straighter.

"Divisions three and five, you will stay here for full assessment, since you are under my command. All other divisions, return to duty."

Obedience was quick. Takara turned to look at Unohana.

"Could you perhaps spare a healer or two in case of accident?" She asked the calm woman. Unohana nodded.

"Of course Captain Takara."

She spared five.

Kenpachi walked back to his office, more than a little excited by this mornings meeting. All his mind could focus on was the sweet feel of the other kenpachi's reiatsu as she brought half of the Gotei 13 to it's knees. His subordinates either scattered to the training area, or wandered off to complete their morning duties. Yachiru, who had remained oddly silent during Takara's speech, as well as oddly still on his shoulder, finally deemed it appropriate to speak.

"Ne, Ken-chan?"

"Yah?" He answered back.

"Why do you suppose her eyes are red?"

He glanced at the pink-haired menace and grunted.

"Dunno."

"Ne, Ken-chan? Do you think she's tough?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to fight her?"

"Yes."

"She's pretty."

He stopped and turned his head to look at her. Yachiru just grinned.

"I saw you ogling her boobies when she was talking."

Kenpachi wanted to kick himself for getting distracted by a nice pair of boobs in front of his adopted daughter.

"She's got big boobies like Lieutenant big-booby, as well as the Ichigo's big-boobied nee-san. Do you like big boobies Ken-chan? I like big boobies. They're all soft and jiggly, and people can hide candy and stuff in them. I want big boobies when I get older so I can hide lots and lots of candy in them. Do you think the new big boobied captain can teach me how to grow big boobies? I asked Lieutenant big-booby the other day but she just laughed at-"

"Yachiru."

"Yes Ken-chan?"

"You don't need big boobs."

"But Ken-chan, where will I hide my candy when I get older?"

"In your pockets."

"But you like big boobies! Wouldn't you like me more if I had some?"

Kenpachi actually had to think rather hard on how to answer that. It was rather remarkable really. His lack of eyebrows scrunched together, his mouth fell into a grimace, and his hands actually fisted and rested on his hips. Several people passed by him and looked up in shock. He looked so…pensive. After a few moments Kenpachi had his answer.

"Oi, Yachiru."

"Yes?"

"Who's my favorite person in the world?"

"Me?"

"Yes, and if you're my favorite person without big boobies, then why would you want them? Wouldn't that make it unfair to all the other people?"

"All of them?"

"Yup. "

"…That's a lot of people Ken-chan. All us shinigami, all the humans, all the hollows…and um…All the cats, and all the dogs, and all the…"

Kenpachi began walking again, comforted by Yachiru's distraction with naming all the 'people' in existence instead of inappropriate places to hide candy. He still wanted to kick himself.

"Eh, Takara?"

"Yes Anubis?"

"My squad is funny looking, can we trade?"

"No Anubis."

"Damn it."

She wasn't too sure why they were whispering, in fact, she wasn't even too sure why they had started. Shortly after the rest of the Gotei 13 had left, leaving squads three and five with their new captains, Anubis had taken it upon himself to speak to her in whispers only. To do so without being heard he had to leave his half of the field, walk over, bend _waaay _down, and cause several battling pairs to lose focus and once again marvel over the fact that her sword was literally bigger than she, but much less frightening once one engaged him in conversation.

Currently Takara was supposed to be weaseling information out of Hinamori Momo, and Izuru Kira, their rather…odd lieutenants. Kira was vaguely helpful, mumbling something along the lines of "had no clue" and "captain was always smiling." Momo was impossibly useless, since her only sentence had been in Aizen's defense, which almost caused Takara to kill her. The only thing that held her back was the thought that no matter how weak or pitiful looking the girl was, the fact that she was lieutenant rank, and that there was a war going on. Plus, she was fairly positive Yama-kun might not like a temporary captain killing their own lieutenant. So naturally the weaseling wasn't going to well.

"So from what I understand Kira-san, there was absolutely no clue before the ryoka's appearance that the three captains were about to leave?" Takara asked, hoping she interpreted the mumbles correctly.

Kira nodded. "Not a single one." He glanced up for a second. "Oh, but there was the murder of Aizen. Not a real murder, but Aizen faked his death so perfectly that even Captain Unohana could not tell it was a fake body."

Momo actually spoke up. "He can cause illusions by a form of hypnosis through his zanpakutou. I'm sure he's just playing a prank right-"

Takara's hand found Momo's neck and began squeezing before she could stop herself. The much smaller girl was raised up a few feet in the air, and Takara had to take a few deep breaths to calm down, before abruptly dropping the girl back to the ground. The moment her body crumpled Momo began coughing and taking in deep breaths, trying to relieve the crushing pain in her throat. Takara glared down at her.

"Listen closely girl. I am no gently smiling Aizen, nor some delusion he dreamed up as a prank on this place." Takara hissed at her. "I am the cold, hard truth, and I will kill you if you spout more lies."

Momo stared up at her fearfully, and Takara bared her tooth in a snarl. Kira stared in amazement before quickly bending down to help Momo up. Takara glared at the both of them.

"Kira-san." She said. He looked up at her. "What is the power of your sword?"

"With each strike of my blade, my foes become heavier."

"…Good, I like that. You and I will duel now."

He swallowed in nervousness but stood, following her out on the field. Anubis quickly returned to his true form after barking out a few orders at his squad. His dual blades gleamed menacingly in the sunlight, connected by a chain between the two. The blades curved smoothly on one side, with a blood gutter running along the rim, while the other side was sharp and jagged looking, much like a saw. Kira stared, then stuttered out:

"W-what is the power of your sword Captain Takara?"

Takara smiled vaguely. "Anubis…judges people."

She charged.

Unohana Retsu hated fighting. She really did. She saw the necessity of it, but never understood why some enjoyed it. At least, not until now.

The 17 members from divisions three and five, as well as 8 from eleventh, were more than enough to make her want to toss in her healing powers and just…just…

Lovely images of ripping off Captain Kenpachi's head, then sticking it, _and it's bells_, on a stake in front of her office danced through her head, along with a nice little image of roasting the new captain on a giant spit, turned by Retsu as she cackled over her victory. Kill two…save a million headaches.

Now she understood why General Yamamato had been so worried after phoning the former captain. Next time he got injured, she was going to heal it the hard, painful, long, torturous way. It was the least she could do to thank him for increasing her workload by over double.

Unohana Retsu had never understood the need for violence before now, but the anger that burned through her, underneath her sweetly smiling façade, made her wonder how she had ever lived without it.

Madarame gave a yelp as the painkilling kido went away, leaving him with the intense, throbbing pain of an arm half ripped open and slowly healing.


End file.
